Apparatus for finishing concrete floors



J. H. MEYER Oct. 11, 1%38.

APPARATUS FOR FINISHING CONCRETE FLOORS Filed Nov. 11, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet l ATTORNEY Gct. 11, 1938. J H MEYER 2,133,173

APPARATUS FOR FINISHING CONCRETE FLOORS Filed NOV. 11, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY.

Patented Oct. 11, 1938 UNITED srrss PATENT OFFlCE APPARATUS FOR FINISHING CONCRETE FLOORS 6' Claims.

My invention relates to machines of the type provided with rollers for finishing the surfaces of concrete floors. Such machines are usually rolled over the wet surface of the concrete mix to bring the aggregates or topping to the surface and to compact these particles in a way such that the area of voids between the surface particles will be reduced to a minimum, whereby the floor will present a smooth wear-resisting surface composed in major part of the hard particles of aggregates knitted closely together by the binding agent. In bringing about this result difficulties have been experienced owing to the persistency of the rollers to pick up portions of the aggregates and surfacing material, which adheres to the rollers, and is carried around thereon to be deposited on the floor and forced back into the surface where there is usually no space to receive these carried particles, resulting in unevenness in the surfacing and requiring further and time-consuming work to cure the defects, as is well known by those experienced in this line of work.

With the object of overcoming these difiiculties, I provide a rolling machine with means for applying a wetting agent, preferably water containing a hardening ingredient, continuously to the surface of the concrete being rolled. The liquid is applied to the face preferably of the leading roller of the usual set of rollers, sothat during passage of the machine over the floor the liquid is carried around with the roller to the surface being treated, and is there laid down uniformly in the path of the machine in a continuous stripe or layer which may be termed a protective film acting as a washing agent preventing the topping or surface aggregates from adhering to the rollers, and at the same time applying the hardening agent uniformly to the surface under treatment. This method of treating the floor surface with a wetting agent laid down continuously and uniformly in the path of the rollers is to be distinguished from the prior practice of wetting the entire fioor surface or portions thereof prior to rolling, resulting in uneven distribution of the wetting fluid, unsatisfactory operating conditions, and non-uniformity in the finished surface.

Another feature of importance which I have incorporated in my improved machine, is the provision of scraping devices for positively removing any scum, minute particles, or laitance which may come up on the rising sides of the rollers and which would ordinarily be carried around thereon into and out of the concrete mix.

Furthermore, I provide suitable receptacles In association with the scraping devices for receiving the objectional surface material brought up by the rollers. Preferably, hand operated devices are provided at a conveniently accessible locality adjacent the operating handle of the machine for controlling the supply of liquid and for controlling the scraping devices.

Various other objects and advantages of the invention will appear as the description proceeds, attention being directed to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, and in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of my improved concrete floor surfacing machine, with parts broken away to clarify the construction.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the machine with parts broken away. I

Figs. 3, 4, 5, 6 and '7 are details of construction taken respectively on the lines 3-4, 4-4, 55,

6-5 and 'I-l of Fig. 2.

In the drawings the reference numeral l0 indicates a substantially rectangular frame having extensions ll adjacent the mid-section and extending laterally from the frame in opposite directions and comprising means for holding a pair of rigidly fixed shafts l2 on which are mounted sets of independently rotatable rollers l3 constituting two outside pairs of rollers for the machine; The construction of these pairs may be as indicated in the broken and sectioned roller illustrated in Fig. 2 wherein the shaft I2 is reduced at I4 for the reception of a bearing sleeve i5. The sleeve l5 preferably is reduced in diameter adjacent its ends as shown at Hi to receive the force fitted hub members I! carrying the roller shells l8 which may be likewise interiorly reduced at l9 and force fitted to the hub members ll. The inclosure 20 formed between the two members I! is adapted to be fitted with a lubricant having access to and through the openings 2| to the reduced portion M of the shaft l2, and the interior of the sleeve l5 may be cut away as at 22 to reduce friction while providing adequate well lubricated bearing surfaces for rotation .of the rollers l3 about the fixed shafts l2. The outer ends of the shafts 12 may be further reduced and threaded at 23 to receive a nut 24 holding a washer 25 against the shoulder 26 of the reduced threaded portion, a suitable clearance being provided to' allow the wheel assemblies free rotation on the fixed shafts l2. A fifth or central roller 21 is carried on hub members 28 in a similar way to those previously described, and provided with bearing rings 29 at opposite ends and which are mounted for rotation on a stationary shaft 30 extending transversely of the machine and held by nuts 3| at opposite ends in downward extensions 32 of the frame I0.

For moving the machine over the floor during the surfacing operation, I provide a handle 33 connected by a pair of bail pieces 35 to suitable supports 35 by means of pins 36, so that the handle may be swung to either side of the machine for convenience in operation. Stops 31 may be provided for limiting the downward swing of the handle at both sides of the frame. In Fig. 1 I have indicated beneath the machine, in crosssection, a concrete floor of the kind on which the machine is used. The floor material is generally laid on the usual rough concrete slab after thorough cleaning and washing. It usually includes the application of equal parts of cement and sand applied with a stiff broom, and over which a bed of cement and sand with a minimum amount of water is laid to within inch of the finished floor level, the topping 4! consisting of cement and aggregates screeded level with a suitable straightedge. These aggregates may be of any suitable material comprising relatively large particles, such as crushed stone, granite, marble, crushed slate, or small gravel. Heretofore, in moving a machine of this general type over a concrete during the surfacing operation, no provision was made for preventing picking up portions of the aggregates on the rollers as above described, resulting in unevenness in the finished floor, loss of time, and in generally unsatisfactory working conditions.

These defects have been rectified in my machine by providing means for supplying a liquid uniformly and continuously to the surface of the concrete fioor during the act of rolling the machine over the floor surface, the liquid preferably being applied to the leading sets of rollers so that it is carried around thereon in the form of a film and applied evenly to the floor surface as the rollers effect a compacting and smoothing action against the surface materials, therby preventing adhesion of the larger particles or aggregates to the surface of the rollers by reason of the interposed film of liquid and the washing effect it has on the rollers. This effect is conveniently obtained by providing the machine with a pair of beam-like members 42 having an arcuate contour 43 to fit the surface of the rollers 13 and containing lengthwise channels 44 communicating with the rollersurfaces for the application of a suitable fluid, such as water containing a hardening ingredient for the concrete, and fed through the hose connections 45 from a-tank 46, there being a three-way valve 41 for selectively controlling the supply to either of the channels il -3 at the will of the operator and depending upon the direction of movement of the machine over the floor surface. The members 42 also function as scrapers for removing the scum or lighter particles and laitance which usually rises on the working surfaces of the rollers. Yielding pressure of the members :42 against the rollers is effected through the medium of springs 48 contained in stationary recessed pieces 69 and acting against the ends of studs 50 secured'to the channel members 4'2. It is sometimes desired that the pressure of the members 421 against the rollers be released or reduced. For this purpose a latch piece may be employed as indicated at El, consisting of a flattened portion 52 having an opening 53 and a cam face 54. The opposite end of the latch piece is in the form of a pin 55 slidingly extending through an opening 53 in the channel member 32 and backed by a spring 5? and a nut 58. A vertical shaft 59 rotative in the frame Ill has an offset 56 at its lower end loosely extending into the opening 53 and adapted to be turned by a crank 6! from the position shown in Fig. 2 to that indicated in Fig. 6, whereby the offset portion 60 bears against the cam face 54 during rotation of the shaft 59 in counterclockwise direction and thus causes pin 55 to withdraw the channel member 32 from the rollers [3 against the action of spring 51. Preferably the two cranks Bl are connected by linkages 62 to a vertical pin 63 carried by a slidable bar (5 mounted in guides 65 on the frame pieces 65 which support the tank 36, so that the two latches may be operated in unison. Movement of the slide 64 is limited by a stop pin 6'! in a slot 88 of the bar 64, and motion may be imparted to the slide in both directions by means of a rod 69 extending along the bail pieces 34 of the handle 33, the low er end of the rod being connected to the slide by a pin iii, and the upper end of the rod being mounted to slide in a bracket l! adjacent the handle 33 and operated by a finger piece 12. The supply of liquid to the channels 44 likewise may be controlled by a rod l3 connected by a pin 74 to the crank 15 of the valve 47 and operable by a similar finger piece '16.

In order to prevent the laitance or scum from returning to the floor surface, a pair of receptacles TI is removably secured to the machine beneath the frame ill in position so that the material rising on the rollers l3 or 21 will be caught by the outturnedcdges F8 in one direction of the rollers, and will also catch any material flowing from the upper surfaces of the channel members 12 after scraping from the rollers, as will be understood by the arrows in Fig. l. tacles Ti may be secured beneath the frame of the machine at one end with angle pieces 18 having slots 19 for receiving in slidable engagement the headed pins secured by brackets 3| to the sides of the machine frame It]. The otherends of the receptacles may be similarly secured by turnable pins 82 having handles 83 and mounted in brackets 83', whereby an elongated head 84 at the base of a pin 82 may be turned cross-wise of a slot 35 in an angle piece 85 fastened to the receptacle. Spring members 8'! may be secured by fasteners 88 to the handle balls 34 for cushioning purposes.

In using this machine over the concrete floor to be rolled, the valve operating rod 13 is moved to open the valve 47 in the direction shown in Fig. 1 so as to admit liquid from the tank to the combined channel and scraping member 52, since the machine in that setting of the handle is to be moved to the right. During that movement the liquid is received on the surfaces of the leading rollers l3 and carried around thereby to be laid down on the surface of the concrete topping and to form in effect athin film F directly in the path of the oncoming rollers and acting to prevent the rising surfaces of the rollers from picking up the heavy portions or aggregates or the topping. The trailing rollers pass over the film which has been uniformly laid down by the leading set of rollers and are likewise protected against picking up the topping. The scraping action of the members .42 removes any scum or laitance coming up with the rollers, and deposits this material in the receptacles I? which may-beremoved afterthe surfacing oper- The recepation and emptied. During this movement of the machine the rollers effect a planing action over the plastic surface owing to the non-dirigible construction of the rollers, the shafts of which are rigidly held in the frame, keeping the machine in a straight course. As a result of such planing, the finished floor is free of even the slightest indentations or unevenness, the finishing operation is speeded, and the floor material is uniformly compacted and brought to a smooth and level surface with the aggregates properly distributed in the surface.

Preferably the liquid used in this connection consists of water combined with a suitable hardening agent, so that the process of surfacing the floor is speeded not only by the absence of the difficulties usually caused by adhering particles of the topping on the rollers, but also by the hardening effect of the liquid in bringing the floor surface to that state of hardness to receive its final rolling. This state of hardness is usually at that point of resistance not to show foot marks. During the final rolling the solution from the tank may be fed to the rollers in smallerquantities or shut off depending upon the wetness of the floor, by appropriately regulating the setting of the valve 41. After this the floor may be floated with a steel trowel, and then after it has hardened sufficiently, the surface is usually rubbed lightly with a fine carborundum brick to remove filmy cement and to expose the aggregates. The fioor thus treated and rolled presents a surface of closely knitted aggregates having hard and long wearing qualities Without the dust generally associated with concrete floors, and gives a construction in which the bed and topping are joined together in a dense and solid mass.

It is to be understood that the invention is not confined to the precise details of construction set forth in the above description, but may be embodied in various other ways within the scope of the appended claims, the above example being given as one practical and satisfactory way of carrying out the invention in practice.

It is further to be understood that the described method and apparatus are not limited to the finishing of floors of the exact type mentioned in this description which is given merely by way of example, but have broad application for various kinds of floors containing a concrete mix or the like, either with or Without a topping of coarse crushed material, gravel, or other substances, and that in all cases irrespective of the material of the floor the employment of this invention reduces to a minimum the amount of extraneous material required to be removed at the final dressing down of the floor to exposed the finished surface. In terrazzo floors the use of this invention materially reduces the amount of surface grinding heretofore required. This method and apparatus give a level surface to the floor, and in this respect are substantially equivalent to the action of a float having an area equal to the outside dimensions of the machine.

The provision of the central roller 21 in combina-.

tion with the leading and trailing rollers I3 is largely responsible for this leveling action, since the entire set 'of rollers engaging the floor surface provides a three point support for the ma chine, and, the smoothing and leveling action is similar to that of a plane. These three roller surfaces give a straight line contact against the floor surface and consequently iron out any unevenness in the fioor level. This dispenses with the need of later treating the surface with a floating tool, and also eliminates many of the troweling operations heretofore required where two rollers were used and which enabled only two point contact to be made against the fioor surface. A still further advantage of the central roller as used in my'machine is that the entire machine may be rotated about a vertical axis with the central roller 21 acting as a pivot, whereby the direction of the machine may be easily changed or shifted While working over the floor. This combination of three point support in which the floor engaging portions of allof the rollers are in the same plane brings the fioor to a smooth and level condition with a comparatively small amount of rolling, and obtains a dense compaction of the floor materials in which the stone or aggregates are forced right up to the surface. Also it is seen that by using this invention any floor having surface wetness can be easily and quicklydehydrated, or freed of excess scum or laitance to expose the surface aggregates when operating on a fioor of this type, or to remove any wet, substance from a topping. This is accomplished by shutting off the supply of fluid from the tank 46 and rolling the machine over the wet surface. The wet substance thus picked up by a roller is continuously removed by a scraper 42 and deposited in one of the receptacles 11 provided for that purpose.

It will be noted from the drawings that the lineal distance between the shafts of the pairs of rollers is not greater than the Width of the machine as defined by the outer ends of the rollers. This close disposition of the rollers as compared with the width of the surfaces thereof in contact with the fioor surface facilitates maneuvering the machine during the actof rolling. All of the rollers remain in engagement with the floor during directional changes, and the central roller functions as a pivot. This movement is further aided by reason of the beveled'ends'of the rollers.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. In a machine for finishing concretefloors, a frame, a pair of leading rollers and a pair of trailing rollers, a shaft for each of said pairs of rollers, said frame being provided with supports for the shafts intermediate the'rollers of each pair, whereby said rollers are slightly spaced apart, said shafts being fixed to the supports, bearing means interior of said rollers adapted to rotatably hold said rollers on said shafts, and a roller journaled on saidframe between said pairs of rollers, all of the rollers being rotatabe independently of one another and having their fioor engaging portions in a common plane, said rollers being of relatively small diameter and substantially of the same diameter, the lineal distance between the shafts of said'pairs of rollers being not greater than the width of the machine as defined by the outer ends of said pairs, whereby the short length of the machine engaging the floor surface as compared with the width thereof in engagement with said surface facilitates turning of the machine about the central roller as a pivot while all of the rollers are in engagement with the floor surface, the outer ends of the rollers being beveled to further facilitate said turning movement, said rollers having shafts held rigidly in parallelism in the frame whereby the rollers are non-dirigible with respect to each other and the frame.

2. In a machine for finishing concrete floors, a frame, a pair of leading rollers and a pair of trailing rollers, a shaft for each of said pairs of rollers, said frame being provided with supports for the shafts intermediate the rollers of each pair, whereby said rollers are slightly spaced apart, said shafts being fixed to the supports, said rollers constituting shell members provided with interior sleeves adapted for rotation on said shafts, and a roller journaled on said frame midway between said pairs of rollers, all of the rollers being rotatable independently of one another and having their floor engaging portions in a common plane, said rollersbeing of relatively small diameter, the lineal distance between the shafts of said pairs of rollers being not greater than the width of the machine as defined by the outer ends of said pairs, whereby the short length of the machine engaging the floor surface as compared with the width thereof in engagement with said surface facilitates turning of the 'machine about the central roller as a pivot while all of the rollers are in engagement with the floor surface, the outer ends of the rollers being beveled to further facilitate said turning movement, said rollers having shafts held rigidly in parallelism in the frame whereby the rollers are non-dirigible with respect to each other and the frame.

3. In a machine for finishing concrete flOulS, a frame, a plurality of leading rollers and a plurality of trailing rollers journaled on said frame, and a roller supported in said frame intermediate said leading and trailing rollers, each of said rollers being rotatable independently of the others and having their floor engaging portions in a common plane, said rollers being of relatively small diameter, the leading rollers constituting a set arranged in side by side relation on the same axis of rotation, said trailing rollers likewise constituting a set arranged in side by side relation on the same axis of rotation, the lineal distance between the shafts of said pairs of rollers being not greater than the Width of the machine as defined by the outer ends of said pairs, whereby the short length of the machine engaging the floor surface as compared with the width thereof in engagement with said surface facilitates turning of the machine about the central roller as a pivot while all of the rollers are in engagement with the floor surface, the outer ends of the rollers being beveled to further facilitate said turning movement, said rollers having shafts held rigidly in parallelism in the frame whereby the rollers are non-dirigible with respect to each other and the frame.

4. In a machine for finishing concrete floors, a frame, a plurality of independently rotatable rollers journaled in said frame and constituting .leading and trailing sets of rollers, said sets of rollers describing a substantially square area of floor surface, and a roller carried by said frame midway between said sets of rollers and within the area described thereby, all of said rollers having their floor engaging portions in a common plane, the lineal distance between the shafts of said pairs of rollers being not greater than the width of the machine as defined by the outer ends of said pairs, whereby the short length of the machine engaging the floor surface as compared with the width thereof in engagement with said surface facilitates turning of the machine about the central roller as a pivot while all of the rollers are in engagement with the floor surface, the outer ends of the rollers being beveled to further facilitate said turning movement, said rollers having shafts held rigidly in parallelism in the frame whereby the rollers are non-dirigible with respect to each other and the frame.

5. In a machine for finishing concrete floors, a frame, a pair of leading rollers and a pair of trailing rollers, a shaft for each of said pairs of rollers, said frame being provided with supports for the shafts intermediate the rollers of each pair, said shafts being fixed to the supports, bearing means interior of said rollers for supporting them rotatably on said shafts, and a roller journaled in said frame intermediate said pairs of rollers, all of the rollers being rotatable independently of one another and having their floor engaging portions in a common plane, said rollers being of relatively small diameter, said pairs of rollers describing a substantially square area of floor surface, and said intermediate roller being within the area thus described, the lineal distance between the shafts of said pairs of rollers being not greater than the width of the machine as defined by the outer ends of said pairs, whereby the short length of the machine engaging the floor surface as compared with the-width thereof in engagement with said surface facilitates turning of the machine about the central roller as a pivot while all of the rollers are in engagement with the floor surface, the outer ends of the rollers being beveled to further facilitate said turning movement, said rollers having shafts held rigidly in parallelism in the frame whereby the rollers are non-dirigible with respect to each other and the frame.

6. In a machine for finishing concrete floors, a frame, a plurality of leading and trailing rollers journaled on said frame, and a roller supported in said frame intermediate said leading and trailing rollers, said rollers being rotatable independently of each other and having their floor engaging portions in a common plane, said rollers being of relatively small diameter, the leading rollers constituting a set arranged in side by side relation on a shaft rigidly fixed in said frame, said trailing rollers likewise constituting a set rotatable on a shaft held by said frame in rigid parallel relation with the first named shaft, the intermediate roller also being rigid in said frame and having its axis in parallelism with the other rollers, whereby all of said rollers are non-dirigible with respect to each other, and the machine moves over the plastic surface in a straight course.

JOHN HENRY MEYER. 

